Good morning everyone. In an effort to maintain normalcy in these abnormal times, here's what awaits me at my LCS, assuming it's still open after I emerge from self-isolation this Sunday. Diamond isn't distributing new comics afterthis week, so who knows what this means.

LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #5- I'm still trying to figure out who's who outside of the big three (and Triplet Girl - if that's still her handle, and Superboy). Hopefully, we'll get more than talking heads.

RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #10 - A couple of issues behind on this anyway. The COVID should give me a chance to catch up.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #42 - This and last issue is still at my LCS, so updates on this are on hold.

BACK ISSUE #119 - A Guardians of the Galaxy themed issue. I actually still have a number of Back Issue magazines that I have not read, so I can be patient on this one.

For those that still get monthly comics, we may have a pause. Diamond Distributors has a hold on accepting new shipments from the publishers while many of the shops are shut down (LCS are not essential, I guess).

Rob Salkowitz at FORBES Magazine has a good article on where all this might lead (and it's not good): "On Monday, March 23, Diamond announced it would suspend shipments of new products “until further notice,” in response to a myriad of economic, regulatory and public health concerns related to the COVID-19 situation. In other words, retailers will have no supply of new product, and publishers will have very limited channels to bring their periodicals to market, formalizing what already looks to be an existential crisis for an industry that generated roughly $1.1 billion in sales in 2019 and serves as a primary IP foundry for today’s movie, television, video game and licensing industries. . . . The industry-wide fear is that the COVID-19 epidemic and its aftermath will push the number of comic shops below a critical mass where the current distribution system makes economic sense. If there are too few stores, there simply aren’t enough dollars to support the ecosystem of publishing, printing, warehousing and distribution of physical products. And it’s unlikely that large mass market retailers could fill the gap."

If Covid is going to last more than a month or two, which is very likely, then Marvel and DC are going to have to make decisions. Stop work until the physical books can be published and distributed, to preserve the LCS system. Which also means letting go talent and laying themselves off. Or continue operations and sell digitally. I think we already know the answer.

My LCS is doing just curbside service and mail order right now. No one in the store until this is over. I'll be buying back issues from them the next few weeks so I'll still be a regular customer.

Fantastic Four Marvels Snapshot #1- This is kind of my last hope for this generation of Marvel. While I am buying a few current Marvel titles, Marvels related stuff is really the only thing that I really get excited for.

Giant-Size X-Men Nightcrawler #1- Alan Davis art. Hickman might have given some clues with this story about what's going on.

Immortal Hulk #33- Still a great book but I'm starting to fatigue a little with not having anyone to root for.

Incredible Hulk #182 Facsimile Edition- This is more my speed!

Tarot #4- This has been a nice throwback story. I wish Davis did the art.

X-Men #9- One of the guys at the store is surprised I'm still buying this. Just like how I enjoyed the first two movies and liked Ultimate X-Men, these are not "MY" X-Men but I'm interested to see where Hickman is going. I don't really have an emotional connection to any of the characters but that happens with everything Hickman writes.

Once and Future #7- I took a chance on this and bought the first six issues a couple of weeks ago and I really like this book!

Being honest, after 8 issues, this whole thing feels like a shaggy dog story. Admittedly a well crafted one, but in the scheme of things, Banner / The Hulk's motivations for taking on Roxxon are muddled, and what the Minotaur was trying to achieve seems pointless. Throwing Xenmu in for some humour, a bit of body horror, and an anti-climatic showdown, just left me wondering what was the point of this arc.

Maybe Ewing is paying this off down the line somewhere. This just was a few ideas trying to find a story with some great art.